Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Developmental State Economic Model Versus Neo-Classical Principles: The Case Of Rwanda And Burundi, Maxime Sarah Mianzokouna

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the significance of the developmental state model using the economic performances of two African countries, Burundi and Rwanda. The two neighboring African countries share similar economic characteristics and face virtually same social and political challenges. In the last two decades, Burundi and Rwanda have taken two different approaches to develop their economies. Burundi is using a standard neoclassical economic model in contrast to Rwanda that is applying the developmental state model. I use the standard method of difference-in-difference and the annual data over the period 1974-2014 from the two countries to compare …

Essays On The Career Choices Of Doctoral Students In The U.S., Chandramouli Banerjee

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis consists of three essays on the post-graduation career choices of doctoral

students in the U.S. and the impact these choices may have on innovation and the

competitiveness that the U.S. enjoys in the global science and engineering landscape.

The first chapter studies the location choice of work of foreign-born U.S. doctorates,

who have been playing a central role in shaping the U.S. skilled workforce over the

past few decades. Evidence suggests that not all foreign-born U.S. doctorates choose

to remain in the U.S. following graduation. This chapter uses a new data set -

the International Survey of Doctoral …

On The Relationship Between Exchange Rate Changes And Domestic Production: Asymmetric Cointegration Approach, Amirhossein Mohammadian

Theses and Dissertations

In the international economic literature studies mainly focused on the response of output to exchange rate in developing countries and find a positive, negative and sometimes neutral relationship between exchange rate changes and output in short run and long run. Perhaps, the mixed results are due to assuming a linear dynamic adjustment process in all previous models. This study investigates the asymmetry effects of exchange rate changes on output in a nonlinear modeling framework based on bounds testing approach which provides a flexible model to estimate short and long run effects jointly regardless of the degree of integration of variables. …

The Labor Of Play: The Political Economy Of Computer Game Culture, Justin Schumaker

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation questions the relationship between computer game culture and ideologies of neoliberalism and financialization. It questions the role computer games play in cultivating neoliberal practices and how the industry develops games and systems making play and work indistinguishable activities. Chapter 1 examines how computer game inculcate players into neoliberal practice through play. In chapter 2, the project shows Blizzard Entertainment systematically redevelops their games to encourage perpetual play aimed at increasing the consumption of digital commodities and currencies. Chapter 3 considers the role of esports, or professional competitive computer game play, to disperse neoliberal ideologies amongst nonprofessional players. Chapter …

Three Essays On The Housing Market And Financial Intermediaries, Majid Haghani Rizi

Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation utilizes the valuable information present in forward looking financial intermediaries and effects of the housing market on macroeconomy. In the second chapter, I study the dynamic relationship in the shadow banking system. Particularly, I investigate theshort-runandthelong-runrelationshipamongthefinancialassetsofthemoneymarket funds, the commercial paper, and the repurchase agreement markets by undertaking a cointegration analysis of quarterly data over the 1985-2013 period. The evidence suggests that there exists a common long-term cointegrating trend among these three components of the shadow banking system. Any disequilibrium in this long-run relationship among these variables is corrected by movement in the financial assets of the money market …

Individual Demographic Transitions And Financial Hardship, Martin Erik Meder

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two essays on the relationship between individual demographic transitions, major life events that alter how an individual may be categorized by demographers, and financial wellbeing. Recent literature on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) has reported an absence of substitution behavior between SSDI and other social insurance programs, which is unexpected considering the observed countercyclicality of SSDI awards. In the first chapter, I decompose the increase in the SSDI enrollment rate over the period surrounding the Great Recession, finding that 54.9% of the increase in the enrollment rate can be attributed to individuals who did not previously …

Fitting A Complex Markov Chain Model For Firm And Market Productivity, Julia Ruth Valder

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis develops a methodology of estimating parameters for a complex Markov chain model for firm productivity. The model consists of two Markov chains, one describing firm-level productivity and the other modeling the productivity of the whole market. If applicable, the model can be used to help with optimal decision making problems for labor demand. The need for such a model is motivated and the economical background of this research is shown. A brief introduction to the concept of Markov chains and their application in this context is given. The simulated data that is being used for the estimation is …

Market Power And The Nonprofit Sector, Gabriel Courey

Theses and Dissertations

The first chapter of this dissertation is composed of three related notes on spatial price discrimination under convex production costs. First, I consider upstream monopoly when two firms downstream have convex production costs. I find that the reduction in social welfare associated with the location distortions from upstream monopoly remain but are reduced under convex costs. This first section has been published (Courey, 2016). Second, I consider sequential location choice by two firms with convex costs (without a upstream monopoly). I find that when the slope of the marginal cost curve is steep enough, sequential choice can yield locations with …

On The Relation Between Income Inequality And Economic Growth: An Asymmetric Analysis, Amid Motavallizadeh Ardakani

Theses and Dissertations

Economic growth and income inequality are two prominent topics in development economics due to their close relation to social stability. The main objective of this thesis is to investigate the short-run and long-run dynamics between income inequality and income growth. Additionally, it is important to consider the dynamic between income inequality and income volatility. This investigation fills a gap in the literature by examining whether changes in income, as well as changes in income volatility, have asymmetric effects on income distribution. The study of asymmetric impacts is critical because it might not be always true that economic booms and busts …